Laser sintering powder recycle system

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for forming three-dimensional objects by laser sintering that includes the use of dense phase pneumatic conveying to internally recycle overflow powder, and to thoroughly blend overflow, recovered and virgin powder to provide a consistent powder feed mix to a laser sintering machine. Overflow powder from the laser sintering machine is recovered and recycled back into the laser sintering machine for reuse. The approach results in a compact and reliable powder recycle system with complete blending and minimum attrition to the handled powder.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention is in the field of freeform fabrication, and is morespecifically directed to the fabrication of three-dimensional objects byselective laser sintering.

The field of freeform fabrication of parts has, in recent years, madesignificant improvements in providing high strength, high density partsfor use in the design and pilot production of many useful articles.Freeform fabrication generally refers to the manufacture of articlesdirectly from computer-aided-design (CAD) databases in an automatedfashion, rather than by conventional machining of prototype articlesaccording to engineering drawings. As a result, the time required toproduce prototype parts from engineering designs has been reduced fromseveral weeks to a matter of a few hours.

By way of background, an example of a freeform fabrication technology isthe selective laser sintering process practiced in systems availablefrom 3D Systems, Inc., in which articles are produced from alaser-fusible powder in layerwise fashion. According to this process, athin layer of powder is dispensed and then fused, melted, or sintered,by laser energy that is directed to those portions of the powdercorresponding to a cross-section of the article. Conventional selectivelaser sintering systems, such as the Vanguard system available from 3DSystems, Inc., position the laser beam by way of an optics mirror systemusing galvanometer-driven mirrors that deflect the laser beam. Thedeflection of the laser beam is controlled, in combination withmodulation of the laser itself, to direct laser energy to thoselocations of the fusible powder layer corresponding to the cross-sectionof the article to be formed in that layer. The computer based controlsystem is programmed with information indicative of the desiredboundaries of a plurality of cross sections of the part to be produced.The laser may be scanned across the powder in raster fashion, withmodulation of the laser affected in combination therewith, or the lasermay be directed in vector fashion. In some applications, cross-sectionsof articles are formed in a powder layer by fusing powder along theoutline of the cross-section in vector fashion either before or after araster scan that “fills” the area within the vector-drawn outline. Inany case, after the selective fusing of powder in a given layer, anadditional layer of powder is then dispensed, and the process repeated,with fused portions of later layers fusing to fused portions of previouslayers (as appropriate for the article), until the article is complete.

Detailed description of the selective laser sintering technology may befound in U.S. Pat. No. 4,863,538, U.S. Pat. No. 5,132,143, and U.S. Pat.No. 4,944,817, all assigned to Board of Regents, The University of TexasSystem, and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,247,508, Housholder, all incorporatedherein by reference.

Growing use of selective laser sintering technology, especially inlimited run manufacturing and in the use of multiple machines in largeservice bureaus have created a need for more automated means forfeeding, removing, and recycling of the powders used. Automating powderrecycling can significantly reduce manual handling of powders, reduceexposures to the powders, and improve the consistency of the powdersbeing fed to the sintering apparatus. Some automated systems have beendescribed and used commercially. German utility model DE 201 07 262 U1describes such a system that addresses some of these needs. Thesesystems tend to take up a large amount of floor space and can beexpensive because they have to handle large amounts of powder and usemechanical conveying systems such as spiral conveyors to move powderaround. The use of mechanical spiral conveyors can lead to powderattrition issues with some powders. These systems also can have poorblending of different quality powders, leading to artifacts in the partsproduced.

Thus there is a need to address the powder handling and recycle issueswith more compact, reliable, and affordable systems that do not have theaforementioned problems of powder attrition and questionable blending.These problems are solved in the design of the present invention.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an aspect of the present invention that overflow powder isrecycled within a laser sintering machine for reuse.

It is an aspect of the present invention that a method and apparatus fora powder recycle system are provided that recycles powder material andblends in fresh powder within a laser sintering machine to achieve lowpowder attrition and excellent powder blending.

It is another aspect of the present invention that the powder recyclesystem operates in conjunction with the laser sintering apparatus toproduce three-dimensional articles between which powder transfers aredone by dense phase pneumatic conveying.

It is a feature of the present invention that the powder recycle systemincludes a pneumatic dense phase conveying device having at least a topreceiving section for receiving powder to be transferred, a bottomtransfer section angled toward an outlet, a porous plate in the bottomsection, and an input of a conveying gas passing through the porousplate.

It is another feature of the present invention that the powder recyclesystem includes a breakout station with at least a worktable forseparating recovered powder and spent powder from finished parts, adevice for processing and separating recycle powder and spent powder,and a pneumatic dense phase conveying device for conveying recyclepowder to the powder processing unit.

It is still another feature of the present invention that the powderrecycle system includes a powder feed hopper with at least an inlet forreceiving powder feeds adjacent a hopper chamber, a cylindricalrotatable roller positioned adjacent the hopper chamber, and a rollerfeeder positioned parallel and adjacent the roller to create a definedgap through which powder from the hopper chamber flows as the rollerrotates.

It is yet another feature of the present invention that the powderrecycle system includes a remote HTML browser application for accessingthe system remotely to perform system functions, display the status ofkey system variables, and send warning e-mails.

It is a further feature of the present invention that the powder recyclesystem includes blending vessels that are used in a closed loop systemprior to proportioning to pneumatically blend separately virgin or freshpowder and recovered powder and then mix the blended powders withoverflow powder.

It is still a further feature of the present invention that one or moreweigh bins in conjunction with weighing devices are used in the powderrecycle system to achieve accurate proportioning and blending of freshor virgin powder, recovered powder and overflow powder.

It is an advantage of the present invention that the powder recyclesystem achieves excellent blending of fresh or virgin powder withoverflow and recovered powder to reduce powder loss and achieveconsistent and uniform powder quality for use in a laser sinteringsystem.

It is another advantage of the present invention that part artifactsfrom poor powder blending are reduced in parts produced in a lasersintering machine utilizing the powder recycle system.

It is still another advantage of the present invention that a low cost,automated powder handling system for a laser sintering machine isprovided.

It is yet another advantage of the present invention that more uniformvirgin powder and recovered powder are obtained.

It is a further advantage of the present invention that a compact,reliable powder handling system is provided that recycles for reuseoverflow powder within a laser sintering machine.

It is still a further advantage of the present invention that powderstratification among virgin or fresh, recovered and overflow powder inblended powder within the powder recycle system is eliminated orminimized.

These and other aspects, features and advantages are achieved by thepresent invention by providing a laser sintering apparatus and methodfor producing three-dimensional articles from a powder utilizing apowder recycle system. The laser sintering apparatus includes at least aprocess chamber having a first side and an opposing second side in whichan additive build process is performed, a powder feed hopper located onthe first side of the chamber for delivering a quantity of powder intothe chamber, a spreader located adjacent the feed hopper for spreadingthe quantity of powder in the chamber, a receiving device for receivingoverflow powder delivered by the spreader located adjacent at least oneside of the process chamber; and a conveying device within the lasersintering apparatus for returning the overflow powder to the powder feedhopper. The method for producing a bed of powder surrounding threedimensional articles includes at least the steps of: depositing a firstportion of powder from a feed hopper across a target area from a firstside to a second side, collecting the excess of the first portion ofpowder as overflow on the second side of target area; delivering asecond portion of powder across the target area from the second side tothe first side, collecting the excess of the second portion of powder asoverflow on the first side of the target area, and pneumaticallyconveying the overflow from the first side and the second side of targetarea back to the feed hopper.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

These and other aspects, features and advantages of the invention willbecome apparent upon consideration of the following detailed disclosureof the invention, especially when taken in conjunction with thefollowing drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of a conventional prior artlaser-sintering machine;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic front elevation view of a conventional priorart laser-sintering machine showing some of the mechanisms involved;

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic front elevation view of a laser sinteringmachine with a top feed mechanism;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a prior art powder recycle system;

FIG. 5 is a schematic overview of the powder recycle system of theinstant invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the powder processing unit and the powderrecycle system within the overall powder handling system;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of a breakout station;

FIG. 8 is a cross sectional view of a powder feed hopper;

FIG. 9 is a rendering of the bottom section of the powder-processingunit;

FIG. 10 is a cross sectional view of the overflow container and densephase recycle transporter to recover and transport for reuse overflowpowder material from within the laser sintering machine;

FIG. 11 is a cross sectional view of an L-valve;

FIG. 12 is a cross sectional view of the top feeder of a transportersystem; and

FIG. 13 is a cross section view of a dense phase transporter.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 illustrates, by way of background, a conventional laser sinteringsystem, indicated generally as the numeral 100, currently sold by 3DSystems, Inc. of Valencia, Calif. FIG. 1 is a rendering shown withoutdoors for clarity. A carbon dioxide laser 108 and its associatedscanning system 114 is shown mounted in a unit above a process chamber102 that includes a top layer of powder bed 132, two feed powdercartridges 124, 126, and a spreading roller 130. The process chamber 102maintains the appropriate temperature and atmospheric composition(typically an inert atmosphere such as nitrogen) for the fabrication ofthe article.

Operation of this conventional laser sintering system 100 is shown inFIG. 2 in a front view with the doors removed for clarity. A laser beam104 is generated by laser 108, and aimed at target area 110 by way ofoptics-mirror scanning system 114, generally includinggalvanometer-driven mirrors that deflect the laser beam. The laser andgalvanometer systems are isolated from the hot process chamber 102 by alaser window 116. The laser window 116 is situated within radiant heaterelements 120 that heat the target area 110 of the part bed 132 below.These heater elements 120 may be ring shaped (rectangular or circular)panels or radiant heater rods that surround the laser window. Thedeflection of the laser beam 104 is controlled in combination withmodulation of laser 108 itself, to direct laser energy to thoselocations of the fusible powder layer corresponding to the cross-sectionof the article to be formed in that layer. Scanning system 114 may scanthe laser beam 104 across the powder in a raster-scan fashion, or invector fashion.

Two feed systems (124, 126) feed powder into the system 100 by means ofa push up piston system. Target area 110 receives powder from the twofeed pistons as follows: Feed system 126 first pushes up a measuredamount of powder and a counter-rotating roller 130 picks up and spreadsthe powder over the part bed 132 in a uniform manner. Thecounter-rotating roller 130 passes completely over the target area 110and feed bed 124 and then dumps any residual powder into an overflowcontainer 136. Positioned nearer the top of the chamber 102 are radiantheater elements 122 that pre-heat the feed powder and a ring orrectangular shaped radiant heater element 120 for heating the part bedsurface. Element 120 has a central opening which allows laser beam 104to pass through the laser window 116. After a traverse of thecounter-rotating roller 130 across the system 100 the laser 108selectively fuses the layer just dispensed. Then the roller 130 returnsfrom the area of the overflow chute 136, the feed piston 124 pushes up aprescribed amount of powder, and the roller 130 dispenses powder overthe target area 110 in the opposite direction and proceeds to the otheroverflow chute 138 to drop residual powder. Before the roller 130 beginseach traverse of the system 100, the center part bed piston 128 lowersthe part cake by the desired layer thickness to make room for additionalpowder.

The powder delivery system in system 100 includes feed pistons 125 and127, controlled by motors (not shown) that move upwardly and lift (whenindexed) a desired volume of the powder 123 and 129 from the powder feedchambers 124 and 126 into chamber 102. Part piston 128 is controlled bya motor (not shown) to move downwardly below the floor of chamber 102 bya small amount, for example 0.125 mm, to define the thickness of eachlayer of powder to be processed. Roller 130 is a counter-rotating rollerthat translates powder 123 from feed chamber 126 by feed piston 127 ontotarget area 110. When traveling in either direction the roller 130carries any residual powder not deposited on the target area intooverflow cartridges 136 and 138 on either end of the process chamber102. Target area 110, for purposes of the description herein, refers tothe top surface of heat-fusible powder in the part cake 106 (includingportions previously sintered, if present) disposed above part piston128. System 100 of FIG. 2 also requires radiant heaters 122 over thefeed pistons 125 and 127 to pre-heat the powder to minimize any thermalshock as fresh powder is spread over the recently sintered and hottarget area 110. This type of dual push up piston feed system withheating elements for both feed and part beds is implemented commerciallyin the Vanguard selective laser sintering system sold by 3D Systems,Inc. of Valencia, Calif.

An alternative powder delivery system for a laser sintering system isshown in FIG. 3. The overall system is represented generally by thenumeral 150. In this system the powder feed mechanism is no longer apush up piston system as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Instead a feed hopper162 and 164 is used to periodically deposit powder 184 onto processchamber floor 206 where it is spread by counter-rotating roller 180 thatis moved in reciprocating fashion by drive system 182. The method fordepositing and spreading powder in both directions in this approach isdescribed completely in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/856,303,assigned to the assignee of the present invention and herebyspecifically incorporated by reference into this application.

Operation of the selective laser sintering system of FIG. 3 is similarin other ways to that of the system shown in FIG. 2. A laser beam 154 isgenerated by laser 108, and aimed at target area 186 by way ofoptics-mirror scanning system 114, generally includinggalvanometer-driven mirrors that deflect the laser beam. The laser andgalvanometer systems are isolated from the hot process chamber 152 by alaser window 156. The laser window 116 is situated within radiant heaterelements 160 that heat the target area 186 of the part bed below. Theseheater elements 160 may be ring shaped (rectangular or circular) panelsor radiant heater rods that surround the laser window 156. Thedeflection of the laser beam 154 is controlled in combination withmodulation of laser 108 itself, to direct laser energy to thoselocations of the fusible powder layer in the target area 186 on theexposed surface of the part cake 190 corresponding to the cross-sectionof the article to be formed in that layer. Scanning system 114 may scanthe laser beam 154 across the powder in a raster-scan fashion, or invector fashion. Once the cross-section is formed the part cake 190 islowered one layer thickness by the drive system 172 lowering supportplatform 170 on which is the part cake 190.

There are three basic categories of powder used in a selective lasersintering system. Virgin powder refers to fresh powder fed to a system.Overflow powder is the excess powder pushed out of the build chamber,such as the powder in containers 136 and 138 in FIG. 2 or the powder incontainers 188 in FIG. 3. Recovered powder is powder recovered outsideof the build or process chamber when the manufactured parts in the partcake are removed from the system. Such recovered powder is collected andrecovered outside of the laser sintering machine in a device usuallyreferred to as a breakout station.

The utilization of these three categories of powder is shown in anautomated manner in a prior art powder recycle system shown in FIG. 4,represented generally by the numeral 200. This prior art system isdescribed in German utility model DE 201 07 262 U1. A laser-sinteringmachine 202 has feed powder fed into two feed hoppers 204. Completedbuilds from machine 202 are moved manually to breakout station 206 wherethe parts are removed from the non-sintered recoverable powder. Twooverflow containers 208, 210 in machine 202 collect overflow powder andtransfer via line 212 it into a sieve system 214. The same sieve system214 is also fed recovered powder from breakout station 206 via line 207.Sieved powder from sieve system 214 is stored in vessel 215 and latertransferred via line 216 to blend tank 218. Virgin powder from bag 220is fed to virgin blend tank 222. The outputs from the two blend tanks218 and 222 is blended in blender device 224 controlled by controller226 and then transferred via line 228 back to sintering machine 202. Allof the transfer lines 207, 212, 216, and 228 have internal mechanicalspiral conveyors for transferring powders.

The prior art powder recycle system described is operational, but has avery large physical footprint and is expensive due to the mechanicalspiral conveyer systems. One of the reasons for the size is the need tohandle all three categories of powder (virgin, overflow, and recovered)outside of the laser sintering machine. In addition although spiralconveyors are fairly efficient at mixing powders locally they can resultin powder attrition from the mechanical action. Another aspect of theprior art scheme of FIG. 4 is that it cannot ensure a consistentproportion of the three categories of different powders. There is nosurge volume for the overflow and recovered powders and, since thesepowders must be removed on demand to avoid stopping other processes, theproportion of these two powders into vessel 215 is uncontrolled.Therefore the proportion of these two powders into vessel 215 is of anunknown mixture. Because the overflow and recovered powders differ inproperties, the properties of the used powder in this system fed fromvessel 218 will also vary, resulting in part artifacts. Another inherentdisadvantage of the prior art design is that the blending of powdersfrom vessels 222 and 218 is done by a volumetric ratio controlled bycontroller 226. It is common with different fine powders, such as thevirgin, recovered, and overflow powders utilized in the presentinvention, that any two or all of such fine powders vary in bulkdensity. When such powders in this prior art system are presented to thevolumetric proportioning device, the proportions of each powder cannotbe accurately predicted and controlled.

These issues are addressed by the instant invention. All transfers ofpowder are performed by dense phase pneumatic transfer which allows moretight and compact piping and the overflow powder is kept within thelaser sintering machines, where it is transferred directly back to themachine feed hopper via dense phase transfer. By eliminating theoverflow powder from the exterior recycle system the overall size andcomplexity is significantly reduced. A closed loop pneumatic transfer ofpowder through blending vessels achieves complete blending to eliminatestratification. The use of dense phase pneumatic conveying systemsinstead of mechanical spiral conveying systems reduces the potential ofpowder attrition. All proportioning of the different powders is done byweight, rather than through volume ratio control, ensuring accurateproportioning even when bulk densities vary.

Certain solids can be suspended and transported in gas (normally air).This is referred to as pneumatic conveying. Pneumatic conveying systemsare suitable for transporting material in powdered form or as granularsolids. The powder/solids has to be dry, with not more than 20%moisture, and non-sticking. There are two basic regimes in pneumatictransport systems:

dilute phase conveying at a high gas speed (20-30 m/s); and

dense phase conveying at a low gas speed (5-10 m/s)

In a pneumatic conveying system most of the energy is used for thetransport of the air itself. The energy efficiency of a pneumaticconveying plant is therefore relatively low, but the handling is easyand, in well-designed systems, often free of dust. Dense phase conveyingsystems are more efficient because much less air is used to convey thesame quantity of solids. The inherent lower air velocities also resultin gentle solids handling.

Pneumatic systems can operate with both positive and negative pressures(vacuum). All of the powder transport in the instant invention systemsto be described is based on dense phase transfer of the powder. Thepowder recycle system of the present invention employs a novel densephase transporter design. The gas employed in the pneumatic system ofthe present invention can be air, nitrogen, another inert gas such asargon, carbon dioxide or any combinations thereof. Air is the preferredgas.

FIG. 5 is an integrated overview of the instant invention's powderrecycle system, represented generally by the numeral 250. One or morelaser sintering machines 252, similar to that described in FIG. 3, areequipped with a feed hopper 254 and one or more overflow containers 256.Not shown in FIG. 5, but described in more detail later, is a densephase transporter located within laser sintering machine 252 whichtransfers overflow powder from container 256 back to feed hopper 254.This aspect eliminates a significant powder-handling load from theexternal powder processing modules to be discussed. At the completion ofbuilds in machine 252, a part cake 258 which consists of the fabricatedparts and the unfused powder around those parts, is moved to break-outstations 260. Here the separation of part cake 258 into finished parts262, lower quality or spent powder 264, and recovered powder 266 forrecycle is accomplished mechanically. Spent powder is normally composedof larger hard agglomerates created by powder close to the hot parts.Spent powder is not suitable for recycle and is discarded. A dense phasetransporter, see briefly FIGS. 6, 9 and 10, then transports recoveredpowder 266 to powder processing unit 270 where it is combined with newpowder 268 to be fed back to the machine feed hopper 254. In oneembodiment, blending of the overflow powder with the combined powderfrom processing unit 270 can occur at the feed hopper 254 using In-binblending technology to be described hereinafter. Not shown in this andthe following figures is the network of air piping and controls thatdrive the dense phase pneumatic transfers throughout the system.

FIG. 6 shows the powder-processing unit as part of the overall powderrecycle system, represented generally by the numeral 350. Recoveredpowder from a separate breakout station 353 (to be described later) isconveyed in a batch-wise manner to recovered storage vessel 354. Virginpowder from supply 352 is conveyed into a surge hopper 355. Virginpowder and recovered powder from recovered powder storage vessel 354 canboth feed through L-valves 356 into a dense phase transporter 358. Densephase transporter 358 uses pneumatic dense phase conveying to convey theresultant powder to either a blender vessel 362, a virgin powder storagevessel 364, or in a circulating pattern back to recovered powder storagevessel 354. When the system operator desires to transfer a new batch ofvirgin powder into virgin powder storage vessel 364, the valves are setappropriately and virgin powder is conveyed through dense phasetransporter 358 to virgin powder storage vessel 364. Alternatively,virgin powder can be fed directly into virgin powder storage vessel 364.Virgin powder can be blended by setting the valves appropriately andrecirculating the virgin powder from virgin powder storage vessel 364through L-valve 368 and dense phase transporter 370 back to vessel 364.Similarly, when the system operator desires to thoroughly blend variousbatches of recovered powder, the valves are set appropriately so thatrecovered powder from recovered powder storage vessel 354 is circulatedrepeatedly through recovered powder storage vessel 354, L-valve 356 anddense phase transporter 358. Blending of the powder occurs during thisrecirculation.

A number of mixing technologies can be used within the vessels. Apreferred approach is to use In-bin types of blending rather than sometype of mechanical blending such as mechanical stirrers. In-Bin blendersutilize the natural velocity profile that exists in flowing solids toaffect the order of discharge for solid particles introduced at the sametime. In other words, particles introduced at the same time exit thevessel over a period of time. Because they exit the vessel over a timeperiod, other particles introduced at other times will be mixed withthem as they are also spread over time. For example, in a gravity flowblender, a horizontal layer of solids introduced into the top of thevessel will blend with other horizontal layers introduced previously ifthe velocities of different parts of the layer are faster or slower. Amass-flow vessel naturally has a faster flow velocity at the vesselcenterline than near the vessel walls. This causes the center particlesfrom a layer introduced at one time to exit the vessel at the same timeas the particles from a layer introduced much earlier, thus blending thetwo layers as they flow through the vessel.

Blending can be done in two ways. Single-pass, continuous blending cansmooth batch-to-batch variations by blending batches deposited one ontop of the other. However, single-pass blending does not effectivelyblend the first batch that enters the vessel because it cannot combinewith other batches. More complete blending can be done by conveyingsolids from the vessel outlet back to the top of the vessel and allowingthem to flow through again. It is also possible to recirculate just thefirst few batches entering the vessel and then use single-pass blendingto continue blending without recirculation as long as a minimum amountof powder is kept in the vessel. Blending with recirculation can be usedto achieve primary blending of different ingredients. If large amountsof a particular ingredient are deposited into the vessel, it will takemore recirculation to achieve an effective blend. Material deposited inlayers of different ingredients will be able to achieve an effectiveblend with less recirculation.

A preferred type of In-bin blending technology is a cone-in-cone insertinside the vessel. A cone-in-cone insert inside the vessel propagatesthe velocity profile up above the hopper section and allows the velocityprofile to be adjusted to optimize blending. It also allows mass-flow orsolids flow at the walls to occur in a hopper with a flatter slope thanwould normally permit mass flow. In order for in-bin blending to occur,there must be no non-flowing regions within the vessel. In other words,when material flows from the outlet, all the material inside the vesselmust move because non-flowing regions will not blend. A cone-in-conedesign can eliminate segregation of powders and improve flow of granularor powdered solids by controlling the velocity profile throughout avessel. A steep interior cone propagates flow to a flatter outer cone.This tends to eliminate some powder flow obstructions, such as what areknown in the powder handling industry as “rat holes”, and preventssegregation even in relatively flat vessels. This anti-segregation flowpattern remixes solids that often segregate when they drop into anordinary vessel. The system is highly versatile in being able to mixrepeatedly or to flow straight thorough depending on the application. Asshown in FIG. 6 vessels 354, 362, and 364 each can have interiorcone-in-cone blending systems. Cone-in-cone blenders are known art. Eachvessel 354, 362, and 364 has a weighing device 371, 372, and 374respectively, which ensures accurate transfers by weight of each powder.Weighing devices 371, 372, and 374 can employ load cells to accuratelyweigh the powders contained in vessels 354, 362 and 364 and transmitthose weights to a controller within the powder recycle system 350.

When the operator desires to prepare a final blend of recovered andvirgin powder from storage vessels 354 and 364, respectively, the valvesare set appropriately so that recovered powder from recovered storagevessel 354 flows through L-valve 356 into dense phase transporter 358into blender vessel 362. Virgin powder is then fed through theappropriate L-valve 368 into dense phase transporter 370 and theresultant mix is circulated around and through blender vessel 362. Asdescribed previously, this action results in a well-blended powder withno segregation as the powder passes through the cone-in-cone blenderdesign. When appropriately blended the final powder blend can then betransported to sintering machine 376. Also shown is an auxiliary storagedevice 378 for instances in which it is desired to store or move powderoutside the system.

The design of the instant invention allows a great deal of flexibilityby appropriate valve action to blend powder to the desired mix beforefeeding on to laser sintering machine 376. All of the various flowpossibilities, including the valve actions, can of course be undercomputer control, so that operation is automatic rather than manual.

While operating in an automatic mode the system of the instant inventionperforms the following functions. While powder is being supplied to thesintering machine or during idle time, the machine will automaticallykeep virgin powder storage vessel 364 full by pneumatically conveyingpowder from the supply container 352. Optionally the user can blend thevirgin powder in vessel 364 with itself and with powder storedpreviously to negate shipping container segregation and batch-to-batchvariations. The system will also automatically convey recovered powderfrom breakout station 353 to recovered powder storage vessel 354 as theoperator breaks parts out. Optionally the system operator can blendrecovered powder with itself and with powder stored previously to negatesegregation during breakout, variations within the part cake andvariations between part cakes due to differences in subsequent builds.

As the blender vessel 362 of FIG. 6 begins to near empty, the powderhandling system 350 will automatically convey powder from the virginpowder storage vessel to meet a weight set point. This may be done inalternating layers with the recovered powder from the recovered powderstorage vessel 354 by conveying powder from the recovered powder storagevessel to meet a weight set point. This filling would be done inalternate layers of virgin and recovered powders to speed blending. Asthe blender vessel 362 fills, the powder processing unit 270 of thepowder recycle system re-circulates powder from the blender vesseloutlet to the blender vessel inlet and uses the cone-in-cone blendingdesign to blend the virgin and recovered used powder together. Thesystem then automatically supplies the laser sintering machine 376, ormultiple machines, with powder when the one or more machine's levelsensors call for powder. During blending a number of known methods canbe used to measure powder quality during blending. One well knownanalytical technique to monitor quality is to measure the melt flowindex of the blended powder.

FIG. 7 is a schematic representation of the breakout station,represented generally by the numeral 400. A part cake is placed on table402 of the breakout station that has two opposing sides (left and right)for accepting removed recoverable powder and spent powder from the partcake. These are fed either directly or through an air slide 404 to screwfeeder 406 which feeds device 408 which makes the separation between therecoverable powder and the larger agglomerates of the unusable spentpowder, which is placed into trash receptacle 410. A preferred device408 is a rotary sifter. The thus recovered powder drops into dense phasetransporter 412 that transfers the powder via powder ducting 414 back tothe recovered powder storage vessel 354 in FIG. 6.

The compact size and reliability of the instant invention powder recyclesystem is enabled by the use of pneumatic dense phase conveying ofpowder all through the system. FIG. 9 is a rendering of the two densephase transporters, seen as 358 and 370 in FIG. 6. In FIG. 9 thetransporters 514 and 516 are configured under the vessels of thepowder-processing unit 270 shown in FIG. 6. Recovered powder storagevessel 506 and surge hopper 502 feed into L-valves 510 that in turn feedinto dense phase transporter 514. The details of the operation of theL-valves and dense phase transporters will be described hereinafter. Theother two main vessels of the powder processing unit, the virgin powderstorage vessel 508 and the blender 504, feed together through L-valves512 into dense phase transporter 516.

FIG. 10 is a view of the internal overflow or excess powder receiver andconveyor system represented generally by the numeral 530. Overflowreceiver 532 collects overflow powder from each side of the part bedduring a build. The overflow powder flows through an appropriate valve536, such as an air actuated pinch valve with an expandable bladder 538actuated by air pumped into reservoir 540, controlling flow down to asmall dense phase transporter 542 below. Dense phase transporter 542conveys powder back up to the powder feed hopper (not shown), therebyleaving all overflow powder inside the sintering machine. Powder isfluidized in dense phase transporter 542 by air fed through inlet 544.Powder passes out through outlet 546 in a manner to be described. Levelsensor 534 feeds a control scheme that opens the pinch valve 536 whenthe powder in receiver 532 reaches the level of sensor 534. This ensuresa constant powder seal that prevents blowing conveying air into thesintering machine.

One of the L-valves of FIG. 9, represented generally by the numeral 550,is shown in more detail in the cross sectional view seen in FIG. 11.Powder from any vessel drops by gravity through inlet 552 onto porousplate 554. Inlet 556 is a source of air for the L-valve. As air passesthrough inlet 556 and passes through porous plate 554 the powder on theplate is fluidized and moves downwardly along plate 554 and out exit 558along with the fluidizing air. When air to inlet 556 is turned off, thefluidized powder on plate 554 collapses and quickly forms a seal atfeature 555. Thus, an L-valve is an efficient valve for control ofpowder flow with a straightforward flow of air into inlet 556. L-valvesare known prior art in the powder handling industry.

FIG. 12 is a cross sectional view of the entrance to the dense phasetransporter, indicated generally by the numeral 600, showing the twoL-valves 602 connected to the feeder section 604 of a dense phasetransporter. Feeder section 604 includes plug valve 610 which can bemoved up by valve stem 606 to form a seal against valve seat 612 withtop section 608 of the dense phase transporter 600 so that the densephase transporter can be pressurized to transport the intended powder.

The complete dense phase transporter device, now indicated generally bythe numeral 650, is shown in a cross sectional view in FIG. 13. Thedense phase transporter 650 consists of a top receiving section 652 andfrusto-conical section 702 connected to a bottom transfer section 654.Bottom transfer section 654 importantly is configured at an angle fromthe vertical to ensure good powder conveyance. This tilt of the bottomtransfer section 654 ensures that porous plate 704 is not horizontal,but is tilted at an angle. Plate 704 is porous so that with an airflowit acts to fluidize powder falling on it. Pressurized air enters atinlet 706 and flows up through porous plate 704 to provide thefluidizing action. Fluidized powder flows downwardly along outlet plate704 toward and out of outlet 708. The angled design, or an alternativecenter discharge outlet design employing the porous plate in adownwardly angled conical fashion, ensures a steadier dense phasetransport with less potential for plugging. When airflow into inlet 706is reduced below the fluidization point, the powder on plate 704collapses and forms a bridge at exit 708 that stops flow. The offsetangle should be greater than about 9-10 degrees from the horizontal, butcan be much larger. A preferred angle is about 10 degrees.

Returning briefly to the description of FIG. 5, the flow of powdermaterial in powder recycle system 250 is completed by returning powderfrom powder processing unit 270 and feeding it to powder feed hopper 254in laser sintering machine 252, where it is combined with internaloverflow powder from container 256.

Turning now to FIG. 8, the powder feed hopper in the laser sinteringmachine is shown represented generally by the numeral 450. Three powderinlets are shown in the top of powder feed hopper 450. Inlet 452 acceptspowder fed from the dense phase transporter 370 of FIG. 6. Inlets 454accept overflow powder originating within the sintering machine fromdense phase transporter 542, described in FIG. 10. Combined powder frominlets 452 and 454 falls by gravity onto air slide 458 where it isfluidized and is fed over the air slide 458 into the hopper section 463of the powder feed hopper 450 and into feed chute 466. Air inlet 460provides fluidizing air to a porous plate in air slide 458. Air slide458 provides the important function of spreading out the resultingpowder pile in hopper section 463 to achieve more storage volume in alimited size hopper. It also reduces the potential for materialstratification due to the formation of a pile that would occur withoutthe air slide. Air slide 458 accomplishes this with no moving mechanicalparts.

Level control of powder in powder feed hopper 450 is provided by levelsensors 462 and 464 of FIG. 8. Sensor 462 detects when the hoppersection is full and does not allow any further transfers through inlets452 and 454. Level sensor 464 detects when the hopper section is almostempty and stops any further transfers out of the hopper. By keeping alevel of powder always at or above level sensor 464, the powder acts asan air seal to prevent any air from entering the laser sinteringmachine, which during operation is maintained under an inert atmosphere,such as nitrogen. The air seal also prevents the nitrogen atmospherefrom escaping through the powder feed hopper 450. Powder to be fed intothe sintering machine is precisely metered by the rotation ofcylindrical powder roller 470, in conjunction with roller feeder 468, asseen in FIG. 8. The spacing between feeder 468 and roller 470 allows aprecise amount of powder to be transferred down feed chute 466 andthrough feed gap 474 as powder roller 470 turns. A preferred roller isone with a smooth surface that has a linear relation between rollerrotation and powder feed and with no pockets that could collect powder.Control mechanism 472 acts to periodically lift feeder 468 to clearagglomerates from the spacing between roller feeder 468 and roller 470.Once powder falls through feed gap 474 into the laser sintering processchamber it is then spread across the build area. The method fordepositing and spreading powder in both directions in this approach isdescribed completely in the aforementioned U.S. patent application Ser.No. 10/856,303.

The automated powder recycle system of the instant invention enablesunmanned operation of more than one sintering machine in a 24 hour perday operation. Accordingly remote monitoring and diagnostics should be akey attribute of such a system. Another aspect of the instant inventionis thus a remote HTML browser application so that Internet Explorer,Netscape, or another browser can be used to access the system remotelyand perform system functions. These system functions can include atleast additional blending, emptying of vessels, powder transfers,addition of virgin powder, etc. A remote HTML status screen is alsoavailable to display recycle system operating parameters including atleast pressures, flow rates, transporter status, etc. An analog displayshows powder levels in the various vessels and predicts when thedifferent categories or types of powders are likely to run out usingpresent usage rates. The same system is programmed to e-mail the systemoperator when virgin or recovered powder is running low.

While the invention has been described above with references to specificembodiments thereof, it is apparent that many changes, modifications andvariations in the materials, arrangements of parts and steps can be madewithout departing from the inventive concept disclosed herein.Accordingly, the spirit and broad scope of the appended claims areintended to embrace all such changes, modifications and variations thatmay occur to one of skill in the art upon a reading of the disclosure.All patent applications, patents and other publications cited herein areincorporated by reference in their entirety.

1. An apparatus for producing three-dimensional articles from a powdercomprising: (a) a chamber within the apparatus in which a layerwisebuild process is performed to produce three-dimensional objects, thechamber having a first side and an opposing second side; (b) a powderfeed hopper, located on the first side of the chamber for depositing aquantity of powder into the chamber; (c) a spreader, located adjacentthe feed hopper, for spreading the quantity of powder in the chamber;(d) a receiving device for receiving overflow powder delivered by thespreader, the receiving device being located adjacent at least one sideof the process chamber; and (e) a pneumatic conveying device in flowcommunication with the receiving device for returning the overflowpowder to the powder feed hopper.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 furthercomprising a separate breakout station which accepts completed outputfrom the apparatus and separates the output into completed parts,recoverable powder, and spent powder.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1further comprising a feed line into the apparatus for feeding powderinto the feed hopper.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3 further comprising apowder-processing unit connected to the feed line.
 5. The apparatus ofclaim 4 wherein powder fed through the feed line from the powderprocessing unit is conveyed by pneumatic dense phase conveying by apneumatic dense phase conveying device.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1further comprising the powder feed hopper being located above the firstside of the chamber.
 7. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the pneumaticdense phase conveying device comprises: (a) a top receiving section forreceiving powder to be transferred; (b) a bottom transfer section,located below the top receiving section, allowing the powder to flow toan outlet; (c) a porous plate in the bottom section; and (d) an input ofa conveying gas passing through the porous plate.
 8. The apparatus ofclaim 4 wherein the powder-processing unit is fed quantities of bothvirgin and recovered powder.
 9. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein thepowder-processing unit comprises a virgin powder storage vessel thatstores and blends quantities of virgin powder.
 10. The apparatus ofclaim 9 wherein the virgin powder storage vessel blends by circulatingpowder through the virgin powder storage vessel.
 11. The apparatus ofclaim 10 wherein the powder circulating through the virgin powderstorage vessel is conveyed by a pneumatic dense phase conveying device.12. The apparatus of claim 6 further comprising the spreader beingpositioned below the feed hopper.
 13. The apparatus of claim 11 whereinthe pneumatic dense phase conveying device comprises: (a) a topreceiving section for receiving powder to be transferred; (b) a bottomtransfer section, located below the top receiving section, allowing thepowder to flow to an outlet; (c) a porous plate in the bottom section;and (d) an input of a conveying gas passing through the porous plate.14. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the virgin powder storage vesselfurther comprises an interior cone in cone blender device.
 15. Theapparatus of claim 9 wherein the powder-processing unit furthercomprises a recovered powder storage vessel that stores and blendsquantities of recovered powder.
 16. The apparatus of claim 15 whereinthe recovered powder storage vessel blends by circulating powder throughthe recovered powder storage vessel.
 17. The apparatus of claim 16wherein the circulation of powder through the recovered powder storagevessel is conveyed by a pneumatic dense phase conveying device.
 18. Theapparatus of claim 17 wherein the pneumatic dense phase conveying devicecomprises: (a) a top receiving section for receiving powder to betransferred; (b) a bottom transfer section, located below the topreceiving section, allowing the powder to flow to an outlet; (c) aporous plate in the bottom section; and (d) an input of a conveying gaspassing through the porous plate.
 19. The apparatus of claim 15 whereinthe recovered powder storage vessel further comprises an interior conein cone blender device.
 20. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein thepowder-processing unit further comprises a blender vessel for blendingand storing combinations of recovered and virgin powder.
 21. Theapparatus of claim 21 wherein the blender storage vessel blends bycirculating powder through the blender storage vessel.
 22. The apparatusof claim 22 wherein the circulation of powder through the blenderstorage vessel is conveyed by a pneumatic dense phase conveying device.23. The apparatus of claim 22 wherein the pneumatic dense phaseconveying device comprises: (a) a top receiving section for receivingpowder to be transferred; (b) a bottom transfer section, located belowthe top receiving section, allowing the powder to flow to an outlet; (c)a porous plate in the bottom section; and (d) an input of a conveyinggas passing through the porous plate.
 24. The apparatus of claim 21wherein the blender storage vessel further comprises an interior cone incone blender device.
 25. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the pneumaticconveying device is a pneumatic dense phase conveying device thatconveys overflow powder via pneumatic dense phase conveying.
 26. Theapparatus of claim 25 further comprising a pneumatic dense phaseconveying device for returning the overflow powder to the powder feedhopper.
 27. The apparatus of claim 26 wherein the dense phase conveyingdevice comprises: (a) a top receiving section for receiving powder to betransferred; (b) a bottom transfer section, located below the topreceiving section, allowing the powder to flow to an outlet; (c) aporous plate in the bottom section; and (d) an input of a conveying gaspassing through the porous plate.
 28. The apparatus of claim 4 whereinthe breakout station comprises: (a) a worktable for separatingrecoverable powder and spent powder from finished three-dimensionalobjects; (b) a device for processing and separating recoverable powderand spent powder; and (c) a pneumatic dense phase conveying device forconveying recycle powder to the powder processing unit.
 29. Theapparatus of claim 28 wherein the pneumatic dense phase conveying devicecomprises: (a) a top receiving section for receiving powder to betransferred; (b) a bottom transfer section, located below the topreceiving section, allowing the powder to flow to an outlet; (c) aporous plate in the bottom section; and (d) an input of a conveying gaspassing through the porous plate.
 30. The apparatus of claim 1 whereinthe powder feed hopper comprises: (a) an inlet for accepting powderfeeds above a hopper chamber; (b) a cylindrical rotatable rollerpositioned below the hopper chamber; and (c) a roller feeder positionedparallel and adjacent the cylindrical rotatable roller to create adefined gap through which powder from the hopper chamber flows as thecylindrical rotatable roller rotates.
 31. The apparatus of claim 30wherein the cylindrical rotatable roller has a smooth surface.
 32. Theapparatus of claim 31 further comprising an air slide located below theinlet for accepting powder from the inlet and feeding the powder intothe hopper chamber
 33. The apparatus of claim 32 further comprising anadjustment device to periodically move the roller feeder to increasesize of the gap to allow collected powder agglomerates to pass.
 34. Amethod for producing a bed of powder in a laser sintering machine inwhich a three-dimensional article is formed in layerwise fashioncomprising the steps of: (a) depositing a first portion of powder from afeed hopper in a process chamber across a target area from a first sideto an opposing second side; (b) collecting excess of the first portionof powder as overflow on the opposing second side of the target area;(c) scanning a laser beam across the first portion of powder in thetarget area to selectively fuse a layer of powder in a desiredcross-section; (d) depositing a second portion of powder across thetarget area on the process chamber from the second side to the firstside; (e) collecting excess of the second portion of powder as overflowon the first side of the target area; (f) scanning a laser beam acrossthe second portion of powder in the target area to selectively fuse asubsequent layer of powder in a desired cross-section; and (g)pneumatically conveying the overflow from the first side and the secondside of target area back to the feed hopper.
 35. The method of claim 34further comprising the steps of: (a) separating the three dimensionalarticle from the surrounding bed of powder; and (b) separating thesurrounding bed of powder into recovered powder and spent powder. 36.The method of claim 35 further comprising conveying the recovered powderto a recovered powder storage vessel.
 37. The method of claim 36 furthercomprising circulating the covered powder through the recovered powderstorage vessel to blend contents.
 38. The method of claim 36 furthercomprising conveying virgin powder to a virgin powder storage vessel.39. The method of claim 38 further comprising circulating the virginpowder through the virgin powder storage vessel to blend contents. 40.The method of claim 39 further comprising combining powder from therecovered powder storage vessel and the virgin powder storage vessel ina blender vessel to form a resultant combined powder.
 41. The method ofclaim 40 further comprising circulating powder from the blender vesselback through the blender vessel to create a blended feed powder.
 42. Themethod of claim 41 further comprising conveying the blended feed powderto the feed hopper.
 43. The method according to claim 40 furthercomprising blending the overflow powder with the resultant combinedpowder.
 44. The method according to claim 40 further comprising remotelymonitoring system functions during operation of the laser sinteringmachine and the powder feed, the functions selected from the groupconsisting of powder blending, powder transfer among powder vessels andthe laser sintering machine, emptying powder vessels and adding virginpowder to the blender vessel.
 45. The method according to claim 44further comprising remotely monitoring operating parameters of allpressures, powder flow rates, gas flow rates, and powder vessel status.